Ball one: Tongue on fire to spice things up
Josh Tongue’s second five-fer of the season will have England’s chief selector, Luke Wright, licking his lips at the prospect of getting the tall pacer back in the phalanx of fast bowlers all countries need these days. For now, Haseeb Hameed is having his say about his speedster’s work and Nottinghamshire sit atop Division One as a result.
The home captain did not hesitate to invite the season’s other surprise package, Sussex, to bat at Trent Bridge and it took only two sessions of the reliable Brett Hutton and Tongue to prompt him to strap on his pads and get on with the day job. By the close of the first day, the scores were almost level, but Hameed was batting with his No 5 and Sussex had a tough road ahead.
Inevitably, John Simpson, leading from the front, made more of a fist of it second time round but Farhan Ahmed, the 17-year-old whose name keeps appearing in these columns, picked up four wickets, leaving Hameed to complete an aggregate of 147 runs in the match for once out, and Ben Duckett to do Ben Duckett things with 48 of his 59 runs coming in boundaries.
It has become the faintest of romantic hopes to envision Hameed back in England colours, especially as he is a long way from the template of a Bazball opening bat, but he’s still only 28. Could captaincy offer him a route back in? When 14-year-olds are hitting 35-ball centuries in the IPL, you wouldn’t rule anything out.
Ball two: warhorses take care of business
There’s nothing like writing players off to ensure a slice of humble pie being served with the Oval’s favourite butternut squash curry and basmati rice.
“Surrey need their two ageing spearheads at their sharpest – and soon – if another title is to be secured,” wrote your correspondent last week. Jordan Clark (5-68, 3-24) and Dan Worrall (2-50, 3-16) provided their answer and, supported by four half-centuries and a 42 from that all Test-capped top six, they cruised to a win that sent the South Londoners into an ominous second place.
Somerset have drawn two and lost two, and haven’t yet managed a collective innings to surpass Tom Banton’s individual score in their first innings of the season. The captain Lewis Gregory will want at least one win from their two upcoming matches at Taunton.
Ball three: damp squib at New Road
You can’t help but feel for Worcestershire. After playing three away matches to allow more time for New Road to recover post-flooding, just 176 overs were required for Durham to sweep to a first win of the season. The hosts mustered just 243 runs, on-loan Jake Ball claiming seven wickets and Ben Raine producing remarkable match figures of 25-8-36-6. Durham’s first win of the campaign anchored Worcestershire to the foot of the table.
County cricket has been played at the ground standing too close to the River Severn for 126 years but, as is the case in Australia and elsewhere, weather systems are bringing heat and floods, once labelled generational, on a much more frequent basis.
If cricket cannot be played at some of its grand old grounds it’ll be a minor tragedy – but also a canary in the coal mine and a portent of bigger tragedies to come. What can be done? Develop an agreed net carbon cost methodology for every match, publish its result and make central funding dependent on a sliding scale of reduction bespoke for each county. As every captain knows, sometimes you have to lead from the front.
Ball four: red-hot Leicestershire
Do not adjust your sets, but Leicestershire are blazing a trail at the top of Division Two after a second win of the season. Their victory against Gloucestershire was the best match of an underwhelming week in the County Championship.
Hull and Holland may be separated by Dogger Bank on the map, but Josh and Ian are bowling well in tandem for Leicestershire, Holland leading the division with 20 wickets at 15 and Hull bagging three in his first appearance since that surprise England debut last summer. But Holland was the guilty man, fifth out for The Foxes, leaving the scoreboard showing just 42 with still over 100 to get, Gloucestershire now favourites.
The wicketkeeper Ben Cox joined his captain, Peter Handscomb, one of three Aussie Test players matching three England men (in a second-level match, mind you) and the wise old head knew if he could bat for 25 overs, Leicestershire wouldn’t be far off. His 47 won’t show up too brightly in the stats tables, but not all 47s are of equal value – Cox’s was a pip.
Ball five: Holden holds on
Toby Roland-Jones won the toss and had a ringside seat watching Derbyshire rack up 472 in 155 overs, the former Middlesex all-rounder Martin Andersson twisting the knife with his second century of the season.
With a lead of 157 and almost four sessions to play, Wayne Madsen, with 243 first-class matches in a 21-year-career, asked his bowlers to go again, 110 overs already in their legs or not. He trusted his two frontline spinners, Alex Thomson and Jack Morley, to get the job done, but their combined 107 match overs yielded just five wickets and Middlesex, with Max Holden cashing in again, played out the draw with a degree of comfort.
Madsen may point to the table that shows Derbyshire second and Middlesex fourth, 15 points in arrears, but going at a rate of one win in four over a full season will not produce the minimum five that history suggests are required to secure promotion.
Ball six: roll on County Cricket Day
Unless you’re one of a tiny minority of sports fans looking forward to the Club World Cup, there’s not much to catch your attention on the last Sunday in June. Odd years (no Olympics, no World Cup, no Ashes this time) can be like that. So it makes sense for the ECB to back the fan-led County Cricket Day on 29 June for the men and 6 July for the women.
The endorsement has to mean something though. Fans can suggest and cajole, but the ECB has some leverage and it should be used. Let’s see a coordinated, targeted marketing campaign fronted by local heroes in their county caps. Let’s see a carnival atmosphere at the grounds, not corporate or kitschy, but in the spirit of the much-missed festival matches alas fading in the memory. Most of all, let’s say entry is free for all – surely the bar takings will offset any lost income on the walk-up gate. If you have any other ideas, there’s space down below for your thoughts.
This article is from The 99.94 Cricket Blog